5E: Converting Monsters from White Dwarf Magazine for Fifth Edition

 Knights of the Air. Griffon riders follow a code of honor, but it mostly covers how they should interact with other amiraspians. How a griffon rider treats other races is often left to the individual rider, and griffon riders can have wildly different personalities and tempers. An evil griffon rider might be a saintly hero toward her own race but a murderous brigand for non-amiraspians, while a lawful griffon rider could treat everyone with strict impartiality.
 Griffon riders and their griffons are housed in a special building called a "Mews". The mews of the griffon riders' home base (see The Lion's Eyries below) can house enough griffons for the entire squadron. There are mews at every significant amiraspian settlement and in strategic positions scattered about the wilderness between them. Most smaller mews are tower-like structures that can only accommodate a few griffons, but a few important positions have mews as large or larger than an eyrie. Wilderness mews are often on mountain peaks above the snow line, so they can be stocked with frozen meat to feed their griffons.​

Description

This young amiraspian has not earned their wings as a griffon rider (see Amiraspian Griffon Rider) but is experienced enough to fly a griffon. They appear to be a tough and athletic human teenager apart from having the face of a cyclops, with one large eye under a monobrow instead of the paired eyes of a regular humanoid.
 The Griffon Knights' Cubs. Each novice is mentored by a seasoned griffon rider much like a knight's squire, although other riders and experts also contribute to the trainee's education. To become a full-fledged griffon rider a novice must pass many tests and trials, the most important of which is to raise a griffon from its egg and train it to as their personal steed. Harshly traditional mentors make their novices steal their griffon egg from the nest of a wild or feral griffon, but common practice is for a mentor to present their disciple with an egg laid by one of their eyrie's tamed griffons as a reward for their accomplishments. Becoming a griffon rider is extremely difficult and dangerous, and many novices die or flunk out of their training. The most common cause of death is being attacked by a griffon or falling, followed by being killed by some other monster. More novices are invalided out or simply give up due to the brutal training regime than actually die. The order always looks after its own, and unsuccessful recruits are always offered safer work in a griffon rider orphanage or barrack.
 Most of a novice's time is taken up with dull but hazardous tasks and duties – mainly cleaning the mews, herding livestock, and working shifts in a wilderness watch post. The most prized assignments involve flying a griffon. At first these are training flights escorted by their mentor, but once the novice is skilled enough they sometimes accompany their mentor on their aerial patrols or fly solo as postal couriers or to deliver a passenger (see Knights of the Air in Griffon Rider for details).
 Being flown on griffon back is the fastest and safest means of travel normally available to Amiraspians, so griffon riders sometimes carry passengers in response to some emergency. A griffon needs mere hours for a journey that would take a caravan days to cross, and the mountains' steep and winding paths can be far too treacherous for most lone travellers to risk. A griffon rider's most important passengers include politicians, military figures and professional experts (e.g. a wizard, cleric or healer), but the commonest reason for griffon passenger travel is actually romance. A typical amiraspian prefers to marry someone from another settlement than their own so many travel to spring fairs and courting festivals to seek a spouse. These young men and women are often unable to reach such events by caravan, but could be flown there by a novice griffon rider. Amiraspians consider it good luck for a bride or groom to be carried to their wedding by griffon, or ideally a mated pair of griffons, although few courting couples are that fortunate. Courting flights may lead to marriage for the griffon rider too, and this happens frequently enough it has become a clichéd trope of amiraspian storytelling.​

Description

Amiraspians who ride on griffons are their race's most renowned warriors (see Amiraspian Griffon Rider for details). A griffon rider who is particularly skilled, talented, and/or experienced earns the honofic "Gallant" from his or her peers. A griffon rider gallant is such a formidable fighter they can defeat an Amiraspi Cyclops in single combat and even a Cyclops Chief may not be their match.
 Most griffon rider eyrie have at least one gallant and a few puissant eyries are lucky enough to have three or four or more. A gallant is usually the leader of a flight or squadron of their eyrie's griffon riders, although their leadership may be more inspirational than official. Gallants rarely wear any insignia or awards and typically look no different from a regular rider, although the respect they receive from their amiraspian colleagues should make their status obvious.
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